Reclamation of Inactive Housing announced

[worldofneil]

Many people renew subscription just for 1 month for major patches. Then they take a 60-80 days break till the next patch because, let's be honest, there's not much to do when content gets stale like now.

Well nobody I know, but I don't know everyone on the whole server so I'm sure you're right. Given how much there is to do though (so many jobs/gathering/crafting/quests/regearing) it seems unlikely that the majority burn through all the content/do everything in the first month after a major patch. Heck tomestone lockouts and drops from things like Alexander/raid lockouts alone make that impossible.

By definition, they can't own a house even if they are regularly playing since August 2013.

I'm sorry, but I didn't understand what you meant on this bit.

I did check your character out on XIV Pads though and despite your complaints that housing now requires a lifetime subscription (your wording), it seems you've had activity on your account timeline for EVERY month since November 2013 so it doesn't look like you've even taken a break anyway.

So the 45 day requirement isn't going to affect you, unless you never step inside your house, in which case... let someone who will actually use it... use it.

[SuperZay]

I'd argue that "regularly playing" means logging in at least once a week, myself. Routine. Having an on again off again pattern is the norm for many people, I know, but they're not "the regulars." The regulars are the people you see at the bar every Tuesday for happy hour. The regulars are the ones that go to your restaurant for dinner at least once a month. The regulars are the ones who run active XIV role play blogs and you know them by sight or name on Tumblr communities. Someone who pays for a month and then takes a 2 month break is not a "regular" by any generally accepted definition of the term.

But would you refuse to serve non-regulars in your restaurant just because they don't visit it every month?

[Catwho]

But would you refuse to serve non-regulars in your restaurant just because they don't visit it every month?

No, but I wouldn't give them a loyal customer discount either.

[SuperZay]

For ARR it was ~3 months (~90 days) between major patches (Patches 2.x) with intermediate patches spread out in between as well (2.xy)

The scenario you are describing assumes people blow through the content major patches offer nigh instantly, and do not log on for intermediate patches at all.
Those are not people who play regularly.

Doesn't mean they don't deserve to own content everyone has access too. That's discrimination based on your subscription days.

[Stormrider]

I was hoping they may have found a way to bind houses to account. If someone is paying and chose to not log in they still paid for the server to maintain the house. Some people for work may not be able to meet the 45 days, but still pay. I am more of the do they support the game financially.

45 days is over a month. You could be afforded the luxury of 1 month off then come back. Two months means you are treating the game not like an MMO but more like a single payer DLC game. Finished what you thought was important from the DLC then, "Screw you all I am out". But make sure you pay to maintain the servers so all my stuff is still around for the next time I decide to bless you with my presence.

[Nalien]

But would you refuse to serve non-regulars in your restaurant just because they don't visit it every month?

I'd refuse to permanently reserve seats for non-regulars... Why should I turn away the actual physical paying customer in front of me, from that seat, just because someone who shows up once every month feels they deserve to have it reserved indefinitely?

You can pay me to reserve that seat, and if you don't show up, that's the same as paying a subscription and not logging in. If you're not paying me to reserve it though? Why on earth would I hold it for you? Someone who actually wants to use it, who is actually paying me for their meal, can use it instead.

By all means, go open a restaurant and use the same logic we have here for housing. You'd have to be spicing your food with narcotics to get people coming back regularly enough... You simply cannot welcome every customer, go "This is your seat FOR LIFE" and then start turning away new customers because all your seats are taken, even though the seats are reserved by people who, for all you know, have passed away. You simply would not be able to run a successful business if you just optimistically sit there going "My first customers who own these chairs will be back today, I'm sure of it!"

That is the issue SE is dealing with here. They have a finite amount of (presumably expensive) server space to hold all this housing data. That's why we have a finite number of plots, a finite number of items we can set. Then they have plots which are owned, effectively, by people who are not using them. No matter what way you try to paint this, that is a waste of resources. Do I have absolute proof that plots are being wasted? No. You know who would have that information, though? SE. It is their servers that are potentially being wasted on non-customers, after all. If they can look at that data, and go "Bloody hell, we have an entire Wards worth of plots owned by people who haven't logged on since March 2014!", then the only logical thing to do is go "Why should we spend money adding these new Wards, when we can just clear up the old ones?", that is what's happening here. The only fault I can peg on SE over all this is not implementing this from the very start in 2.1, anyone could have seen this issue coming...

[SuperZay]

I'd refuse to permanently reserve seats for non-regulars... Why should I turn away the actual physical paying customer in front of me, from that seat, just because someone who shows up once every month feels they deserve to have it reserved indefinitely?

Because they paid you already for permanent spot the price you've asked for. It was your own rules to begin with. And now you are changing them to your liking after being paid.

[CGMidlander]

Doesn't mean they don't deserve to own content everyone has access too. That's discrimination based on your subscription days.

That's debatable. I'm more leaning towards the side of "If you aren't using the limited resource you are occupying, then the resources should be made available to other people who will."

If life circumstances cause my own ingame housing to implode, I wouldn't be upset.
It's not like I threw all the gil I'll ever have at the house. Frankly, I have enough assets to buy my house several times over because as an active, diversified player, I have a decent gil income.

[Nalien]

Because they paid you already for permanent spot the price you've asked for. It was your own rules to begin with. And now you are changing them to your liking after being paid.

No where in the ToS does it say that a single subscription fee payment affords you the right to hold onto, indefinitely, the server space allotted to housing. Doesn't even say that for your character data from what I remember, in fact I'm fairly sure it states something to the opposite effect; That at any time they could effectively delete you character for whatever reasons they want.

There was never an agreement that housing plots were yours for life. There was never mention of losing them in this manner, either, but I'm fairly certain the ToS, which we all agreed to, lets them hold the right to do things exactly like this. Actually, if anything I recall mention that SE could demolish your plot if they suspected RMT involvement, this then, is nothing more than an addendum to that.

[worldofneil]

It was your own rules to begin with. And now you are changing them to your liking after being paid.

Rules/requirements (for everything!) change all the time, both in games and real life. In game examples would be things like dungeons/trials being made easier, relic farming being boosted, tomestone caps being removed, etc.

No I'm not comparing light farming to owning a house, I'm just saying things change. There's no obligation for them to stay the same as they were in December 2013 (nearly 2 years ago when FC housing first came out in patch 2.1).

SE is giving a few weeks notice that the requirements on housing is changing and there's still the 45 days after that. More than enough notice in my opinion.